Field
Disclosed herein is method to manufacture a fragmenting material and the material so produced. More particularly, a composite material has metal fragments bonded together by a reactive metal, such as by sintering.
Description of the Related Art
The military has a need for devices that can be deployed from a safe distance and distribute a lethal cloud of fast-moving fragments on detonation. One such application is the nose cone of a fragmenting warhead. One such nose cone is a composite material having pre-defined shapes blended with a powder. The mixture is then compacted and sintered. This process is disclosed in United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2011/0064600 A1, titled “Co-Sintered Multi-System Tungsten Alloy Composite,” by Brent et al. Another sintered product disclosed as useful for the liner of a shaped charge liner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,921,778, titled “Single. Phase Tungsten Alloy for Shaped Charge Liner,” by Stowovy. Both US 2011/0064600 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,921,778 are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.